First Name Basis
by heaven'sgirl
Summary: [One-shot] He didn't understand why she insisted on calling him "Mr. Grady." Set before the events of Jurassic World.


**First Name Basis  
** by heavensgirl

SYNOPSIS: He didn't understand why she insisted on calling him "Mr. Grady." Set before the events of Jurassic World.

Standard disclaimer applies. Any names used in this story (that are not in the canon Jurassic World timeline) are fictional; they were randomly chosen for the purpose of this fanfiction.

WARNING: Some mild use of language.

* * *

He was already working in the park for almost two years when he first laid his eyes on her. The first thing that caught his eye was her impeccably straight red hair and the way it shined under the hot, Costa Rican sun. She was wearing a sky blue dress, paired with white heels and an expensive-looking satchel from which she took out an equally expensive-looking tablet.

Owen was on his way to the monthly staff meeting when a white SUV pulls up in front of the park's headquarters – the same building that included the embryo lab and control room, strategically located at the center of the park. The redheaded beauty stepped out of the vehicle, confidently and gracefully walking up the steps of the building.

Owen was glued to his spot near the bottom of the steps, his eyes watching her until she was out of sight. He was only snapped from his reverie when Barry elbowed him on the ribs.

"Earth to Owen," Barry said, his tone laced with amusement.

"You just saw her, right?" asked Owen as they continued on their way to the conference room.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I've never seen her here before."

Another voice spoke from behind Owen and Barry. "She's the park's new operations manager," explained Lowery, balancing a bag of chips on one hand and a large soda drink on the other.

"How the hell do you know that?" asked Owen.

Lowery sighed dramatically. "You never read the itineraries, do ya?"

"What do you think?"

" _Anyways_ , her name's Claire Dearing," Lowery continued. "That lady's resume is off the charts. Graduated with a Bachelor's in Business Admin _and_ earned an MBA from Yale. She's one of the top in her class. She's even worked for a couple of Fortune 500 business before she got this position."

"Impressive," commented Barry. Owen nodded but remained silent; he felt a little intimidated now that Lowery had given them a brief insight on their new manager – their new boss.

Owen caught sight of her again in the conference room, talking in hushed tones with Simon Masrani, CEO and owner of Jurassic World. Next to them, a smug Vic Hoskins pretended to listen to their conversation.

The meeting went as it usually did, which largely consisted of Masrani updating them with the park's progress when it came to profits and reviews and his plans for boosting the park's "wow" factor. Their monthly meetings also involved having each trainer (or group of trainers) briefly sharing his or her reports on the dinosaurs they were assigned to keep track of.

Before the meeting ended, Masrani formally introduced to them the newest member of their team: Claire Dearing. Claire initially looked self-conscious when Masrani shared some of her achievements that made Masrani hire her for the position on the spot. However, after Masrani's introduction, she stood up near the head of the table in a confident manner and smiled in greeting – a genuinely friendly smile that peaked Owen's interest in her.

* * *

Part of Claire's responsibilities as operations manager is to have weekly appointments with each dinosaur trainer and handler in the park. It had only been two days after he first saw her when she arrived at the Raptor Paddock for her first weekly appointment with Owen and his team.

Because he intentionally neglects most of the messages or reminders that were given to him, Owen was taken by surprise when he sees Claire's car parked near the paddock. He was on his way to see his pack – it was feeding time.

"Good morning, Mr. Grady," greeted Claire, her short hair bobbing as she approached the gates to the paddock. She was wearing a modest, knee-length navy dress with a dark yellow belt that accentuated her curves. This was the first time Owen got to see her up close…

Claire cleared her throat. "Mr. Grady?"

"Can I help you?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Are you aware that we scheduled an appointment with you at noon today?"

Owen didn't need to lie. He can tell she already knew he didn't about the schedule. "Nope," Owen said, flashing her a cheeky grin. She pursed her lips in a thin line, annoyed.

"It wouldn't hurt to check your emails once in a while, Mr. Grady," she said, taking a few steps towards the first gate of the paddock.

"Not that way, we're going up." Owen mentioned for her to follow him. She tilted her head in curiosity but followed him wordlessly as they made their way to the deck, where they had the best view of the raptors' paddock.

Before they reached the top of the stairs, Owen suddenly turned around which caught her off guard and caused her to almost lost her footing. Owen immediately grabbed her by her shoulders before she tumbled backwards and down the stairs.

"Why did you do that?!" Claire exclaimed, grabbing Owen's arms as she steadied herself. Surprisingly, she still held onto her clipboard.

Owen pretended that he didn't know what she was talking about. He was actually enjoying holding her like that. "What?"

"Turning around all of a sudden," she said, frustrated. She tapped impatiently on Owen's arms, clearly eager to get away from him.

"You can call me Owen."

Claire was about to retort when they heard a loud, hissing sound from below them. Owen's raptors were watching Owen and Claire, their heads tilted in interest at the newcomer. Claire inhaled sharply at the intense gaze the raptors were giving her, but she didn't cower behind Owen.

"It's feeding time," Owen explained. He gave Claire another grin and pulled out a small clicker from his pocket. Owen held up his right hand while the other pressed on the clicker twice. The raptors immediately turned their attention to Owen.

"Eyes on me," he commanded, pressing the clicker again. Owen walked slowly to his right, pressing on the clicker each step he took.

It took a few clicks from Owen for the raptors to follow his movements, but as soon as he got their full attention, Owen walked away from his spot with Claire and made his way towards the other end of the platform. His friend and co-worker, Barry, was waiting for him at the other end, a bucket in hand. Without breaking eye contact with the raptors, Owen took the bucket from Barry and made his way back to where Claire stood.

"You all better remember who's who," Owen directed to his raptors. He took out a piece of meat from the bucket and called out to Charlie, then Delta, then Echo. All three seemed to acknowledge the names that were given to them and were each rewarded with a generous meal. However, the last raptor – to whom Owen bestowed the name Blue – lowered her head and ignored Owen's calls.

"Blue!" Owen called out. Blue growled and hissed, but eventually decided to make eye contact with Owen.

Owen smiled and threw the biggest piece of meat at Blue, who devoured it in one gulp. "Good girl."

Owen proudly placed his hands on his hips and turned his attention to Claire. Claire was staring at him, wide eyed and mouth slightly gaping. She was clearly impressed; Owen smirked.

"That was quite a show, Mr. Grady," Claire said, scribbling notes on her clipboard. "Quite a show."

Owen wanted to smile that he was able to amaze her, but instead he frowned. He didn't understand why she insisted on calling him "Mr. Grady."

"I can see that you've made plenty of progress with your raptors," continued Claire, not looking up from her clipboard. "Just a year ago, they didn't even acknowledge you when you called them by their names."

"How'd you know that?" Owen asked as they made their way downstairs and towards her car. "I'm not sure if you know, but I'm not really the type of person who likes to write reports."

"Your friend was kind enough to write the reports for our records," she said, looking at Barry who waved at them from the platform. "And yes, I am well aware of your work ethics, Mr. Grady."

"It's Owen," he corrected her. Then he threw her a flirtatious smile. "You checked up on me."

Her reply was straightforward and still business-like. "I like to know who I'm working with."

Owen stepped closer to her, curious to see how she would react to their proximity. She only raised her eyebrows but didn't step back. Owen attempted to give her another one of his charming smiles. "And how is it so far, Ms. Dearing?"

To his utter surprise, she smiled at him in amusement. "Still to be determined," she said, trying to suppress another smile. She looked up at him, her eyes challenging him to come up with another lame attempt at flirting.

They stayed staring at each other until their moment was interrupted by the faint ringing of Claire's phone. She threw another amused look at Owen before she bid him goodbye and reminded him to check his email for their next appointment.

Owen watched as her car rounded the corner and out of sight. He felt his heart beating a little faster than usual and that frustrated him to no end. He barely knew her and yet she already had such an effect on him. Her confidence, her dedication to a job she clearly enjoys, and her tenacity endeared Owen to her.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't the only one who found her captivating.

* * *

"She's rejected five guys already," exclaimed Lowery one day while he was with Owen and Barry. He was tasked to upgrade the online security systems for the raptor paddock. "I mean flat-out rejection: big fat 'no.' I kindof felt bad for those guys."

Owen pretended to be uninterested, but Barry knew better. Ever since Owen's first appointment with Claire, his friend became more attentive when it came to his emails. Because Claire's busy schedule meant that the date of their appointments varied almost week by week, Owen made sure to check his emails so he was ready and presentable whenever she visited.

But when the park expanded and Claire became busier, her weekly appointments with Owen turned into meetings every two weeks that eventually turned into meetings once a month. The change of schedule meant that besides the monthly staff meetings (which really didn't give him the opportunity to talk to her one-on-one), Owen only saw her once a month and it upset him more than he cared to admit.

For the few years that Barry has known his friend, Owen wasn't the type of guy to easily fall for a woman. Yes, he may be a flirt and knew how to charm, but he certainly didn't fool around. So when Barry noticed Owen's little crush on Claire grew every time she visited, Barry knew his friend was falling hard.

"Can you believe even Danny Parker attempted to flirt with her?" Lowery said nonchalantly.

Owen turned his head sharply to Lowery. "Parker?"

Danny Parker was one of the top members of the ACU. He was also one of the park's "most eligible bachelors" and the biggest flirt among the employees. He was unabashed when it came to boasting about his promiscuous love life and the way he "loved a challenge."

"Yep. She was in the control room with me and Vivian yesterday to check up on the system updates when Parker just came up to us. The way he tried to flirt with her… you can tell he thought he was God's gift to women."

Owen scoffed while Lowery shrugged. "Anyways, Parker was being his usual asinine self and told her she should go out with him."

"What did she say?" asked Owen, trying to sound casual.

"What else? A big fat no," replied Lowery as he typed some codes on his laptop. He failed to notice Owen's smile of relief.

* * *

Even though her visits were on a monthly basis now, Owen still appreciated them because their initial half-hour meetings turned into one-hour ones. It didn't take a lot of time for him to update her about his raptors, so the remaining time they had in their scheduled meetings would be just them talking about everything else. The more time he spent with Claire, the more things he learned about her, the more she became endearing to Owen.

He learned that her favorite snacks were gummy bears when Owen found her eating a bag full of them while she waited for him during one of their one-on-one meetings.

He learned that she was (unfortunately) allergic to flowers when one day he presented her with wildflowers that he picked on his way to the paddock (fortunately, she had her allergy medication with her in the car).

He learned that her favorite sport in high school was track and that she practiced yoga as a way to relieve stress. He learned that her favorite color was green and that she enjoyed listening to classical music in her office. Interestingly, he learned that her favorite dinosaur was the T-Rex.

Owen enjoyed every second he spent with her and every little thing he learned about her.

The only thing he disliked about their meetings – despite knowing each other for a little over two years now – is her insistence on calling him "Mr. Grady."

* * *

Owen was known to be one of the "cool, calm, and collected" guys that worked for Jurassic World. He was never one to lose his composure easily. But when he saw a heavily buzzed Parker stumble his way towards an unsuspecting Claire, he felt his blood boil and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

It was the holiday season and Masrani spared no expense to throw a big party for his staff on Christmas Eve. It also marked Claire's third year as the park's operation manager, so the party also celebrated that milestone.

Owen was dressed in black slacks and a blue button-down shirt and purposely let his black tie loose. His choice of spot was at a corner near the punch bowl, where he stayed close with people he actually liked having as companions, like Barry and Lowery. He didn't particularly like big social gatherings thrown by Masrani; hell, he didn't even plan on going to this party until Barry persuaded him.

And Owen was sure glad his friend was able to persuade him, because as he was listening to Lowery talk about some hybrid dinosaurs being concocted in one of the labs, he saw Claire walk in and he almost forgot how to breathe.

Claire was dressed in a ruby-colored dress with a surplice neckline, a flowy pleated skirt, and an ornate beaded belt. She complimented her dress with silver, pointed-toe pumps and a matching silver clutch. She greeted and smiled at every person she saw as she made her way to the bar.

"Just ask her out already, Owen," teased Barry. Lowery was snickering next to him.

"And what? Get a big fat no?" Owen said, feeling slightly dejected assuming she'll probably reject him like she did with the other guys.

It was during their conversation that a drunk and bumbling Parker made his way to the bar, directly towards Claire who was having a discussion with her assistant, Zara. Because her back was turned, Claire didn't immediately notice the stumbling drunk behind her until Zara pointed and gave Parker a disapproving look. Claire turned around and had to take a few steps back, crinkling her nose from the strong alcohol smell that Parker was emitting.

"Can I help you, Mr. Parker?" Claire asked, still professional despite her obvious disgust.

Parker hiccupped and placed his hand on her shoulder. Claire tried to pull away. Barry noticed that Owen wasn't standing next to him and Lowery anymore.

"Pretty little thing, ain't ya?" Danny Parker said between hiccups. The man was red in the face and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol. Claire wanted to put as much distance from him as possible, but his hand on her shoulder pinned her to the spot. It was starting to hurt her.

"Mr. Parker, I would advise that you take your hand off of me this instant or I will call security to escort you out of this party," Claire said, her tone laced with anger and annoyance.

Parker didn't seem to hear her warning and put his face close to Claire's. "What do you say we have our own little party, if ya know what I mean?"

"Excuse me?" Claire exclaimed, pushing him away. The volume of her voice started to attract the attention of several party goers. "I'm _not_ that kind of girl, Mr. Parker. Now for the last time, remove your hand off of me this second or there will be consequences."

She forcefully grabbed Parker's hands off of her shoulder, a move that infuriated him. He lunged at her. "You little bitch!"

Before Parker was even able to take one step towards Claire, he felt a huge blow on his cheek. Next thing he knew, he tumbled on the floor and saw Owen Grady hovering above him.

"Take that back," Owen said through gritted teeth. He glared daggers at Parker as he felt his pulse rate increase and his breathing quicken from all the pent up anger he felt in that moment.

"Go screw yourself, Grady," Parker shouted.

Owen was about to land another punch on Parker when Claire came up behind him. "Owen," she said, placing a hand on his arm to prevent him from giving Parker another blow.

Owen looked at her in surprise. It was the first time she called him by his first name.

She gave him a small, grateful smile before turning to Parker, who was attempting (and failing) to get back on his feet in his drunken state. Parker was a rude man through and through.

"You're just a bitch who thinks you're too good for everyone else in this park," asserted a drunken Parker.

Owen took a step forward, ready to give Parker a good beating. But Claire's hand stopped him.

"Allow me," she said.

Owen learned something new about Claire that night: she can pack one hell of a punch.

* * *

The party was still alive and did not seem to be ending anytime soon when Owen decided it was time for him to leave. Barry and Lowery were busy dancing with some of their coworkers, so Owen was left in their little corner, massaging his fist and scanning the crowd for a certain redhead that he just couldn't stop thinking about.

Cleaning up the mess Parker made went surprisingly smooth and without any more incident. One of the paramedics mentioned that this wasn't the first or second time that Parker has created a commotion while drunk at a party, so it didn't come as a surprise to the paramedics anymore. During that time, Claire had quietly slipped out of the party after she just landed that knockout punch on Parker. Owen hasn't seen her since.

Owen was making his way to his motorcycle when he saw her, leaning on the wall with her hands on her back, looking at Owen like she expected him to be there. Owen raised his eyebrow.

"I thought you went home."

Claire tucked strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't want to go home until I gave you my thanks. Not many people are willing to stand up to Parker."

Owen smiled. "Look who's talking."

She pressed a palm on her forehead. "I can't believe I just did that," she said incredulously, but she was smiling at the same time.

"I gotta say, I never imagined this side of you, Claire," Owen teased. He wiggled his eyebrows mischievously. "I'd like to see what else you're hiding."

"Watch it… I _can_ knock you out too, you know."

They both shared a laugh.

"You called me by my first name today," Owen pointed out.

"Well, I figured it was time. We have known each other for a while."

"Yeah, you finally called me Owen after three years. _About damn time_."

He didn't mean to convey his frustration, but he did. He couldn't help it; it irritated him that it took her three years to call him on a first name basis.

She frowned at him. "Please don't tell me you're going to make a big deal out of this."

"And if I do?"

"I think, _Mr. Grady_ , that that will be such a childish thing to do."

"Well then, _Ms. Dearing_ , what do _you think_ of my asking you out to dinner with me on Saturday night… say, at 6:30pm? I know a good restaurant in the park for some good Italian food."

"What?" she asked, the surprise evident on her face.

"You heard me."

When she didn't reply, Owen felt his confidence dissipate and anticipated that she will be giving him the rejection of a lifetime. However, after a moment's pause, she smiled shyly at him. "Okay."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated, amused. "As long as you call me Claire and not Ms. Dearing."

"Deal," Owen grinned. "As long as you start calling me Owen and to never, _ever_ call me Mr. Grady again."

* * *

 **A/N:** Holey moley, I just wrote another one-shot. I'm usually not the best at writing chapters / stories quickly, but my head cannons for Owen and Claire are driving me nuts right now… all the feels I get from these two…

Reviews and likes would be deeply appreciated!

Yours Truly, HG


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